Proposition 8 was a ballot measure in the California state elections last year. It re-wrote the state constitution to state that marriage is between a woman and a man only. It effectively banned same-sex marriages.

It was created in response to a California Supreme Court ruling that the California state constitution did not limit who could get married, and that courthouses must therefore grant marriage licenses to any one who meets the requirements (ie, age, residency) - including gay couples.

Between the Supreme court ruling that Gay Marriage was legal in California, and the passing of Proposition 8 banning Gay Marriage in California, aproximately 18,000 gay couples got married, legally.

The recent flury was a desperate last ditch effort by the proponents of gay marriage, basically trying to get Proposition 8 reversed due to a technicality. They said that Prop 8 was a "rewrite" of the state constitution, rather than a "revision". The difference being that a rewrite requires the State Legislature to sign off on it, whereas a revision only requires a popular vote.

The California State Supreme Court today ruled that Prop 8 was in fact a revision, which means it was legally placed on the ballot, and that it - and the subsequent ban of Gay Marriage - remains legal. It should be noted that today's ruling was neither in favor of nor against Gay Marriage itself - the only question before the Supreme Court was whether or not the ballot measure itself was legally placed up for vote last year.

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